Monday, May 9, 2011

Audience treated to ‘magical’ experience with Dawa’s “Ritual Journeys”

GANGTOK, 08 May: Dawa Tshering Lepcha’s poignant portrayal of the life and tasks of Meryak Lepcha, an 80-year-old Padim [Bongthing] of Dzongu, premiered to a packed audience here at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology on Saturday.
The 75-minute ethnographic documentary film was released by Padmashree Keepu T Lepcha, respected as “Nekung” by those who know her, and even as Dawa and the anthropologist consultant for the project, Anna Balicki Denjongpa, were initially anxious about the attendance their film would attract, as show-time approached, they could not fit in enough chairs to accommodate everyone who had turned up - there was not even standing space left in the hall yesterday.
Once the lights dimmed, Meyrak, the protagonist of the film, held the audience spell-bound with his affable charm, commitment to the people and his gift and the witty conversations he kept up with Dawa behind the camera.

The charm with which Meryak can carry out serious tasks without taking himself too seriously should also provide a valuable life-lesson for all who get to watch this special movie.
The promotional literature promised audiences of an intimate portrayal of the Padim at work and of his life in the village, and the audience was kept riveted by what Dawa, the camera-person and editor of the film, has put together. The movie played out completely in Lepcha, and although the audience was made up largely of Lepcha students, a majority relied on the flawlessly done English subtitles to enjoy the film.
Dawa spent seven years filming Meryak and established a special bond with him which comes through in the movie. Dawa, although he never appears on screen, speaking only at times from behind the camera, is passionately committed to his craft and receives Meryak’s endorsement as well when he turns to the camera and asks, “You don’t get tire of this [filming], do you?”
This passion comes through in the sensitivity with which the documentary has been put together and can be experienced even by the uninitiated [to the challenges of making ethnographic documentaries] which perhaps explains the infectious pride that Dawa reflected on everyone in the audience yesterday.
As one person in the audience commented, “It was magical”. It truly was. For those who missed the premiere show, there is good news, the team, overwhelmed by the response are planning a repeat show which will be announced shortly. More DVD copies of the film, the first lot sold out on Saturday, are being ordered and with every purchase, one helps contribute to the kitty being put together to finance Dawa’s travel to England for the Royal Anthropological Institute International Festival of Ethnographic Films 2011 coming up in June. He has also been selected for a specialised editing course in ethnographic filmmaking at the University of Manchester.

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